Those valuations totaled $490.98 million for the calendar year, more than six times last year’s recorded $79.59 million and twice 2021’s $237.33 million, according to figures provided by the city. The permit for the new high school was taken out in 2021.

Just before the calendar flipped to 2023 nearly 200 acres came online for new projects in the West Viking Road industrial park.

The quantity of new commercial building permits overall was relatively flat over that time: 14, 9 and 11 in 2021, 2022, and 2023, respectively.

Some were pulled for large projects in the industrial park:

• A 53,230-square-foot Amazon distribution center with at least $4.75 million in property valuation on 9.33 acres at 6417 Innovation Drive.
• A new 9,600-square-foot building for Bitcoin mining company Simple Mining with a minimum property valuation of $890,500 on 2.15 acres at 2715 Technology Parkway.
• A new 30,000-square-foot building for CF Storage LLC with at least a minimum property valuation of $1.5 million on 2.48 acres at 2811 Technology Parkway.

A “tremendous slowdown” in commercial building is not expected, says Brandon Schoborg, president and chief executive officer of Cardinal Construction based in Waterloo.

“We’ve seen a demand for warehouses with small offices,” he said, “but the biggest thing we’ve been facing is the need to value engineering, come up with creative ways to not change the appearance of a project, but save some money where we can. I think that’s probably been an ongoing challenge, but it’s probably been heightened by the fact that material prices have increased over the last two years.”

Of the 4,757 permits total taken out total in Cedar Falls, which includes new construction as well as work like remodels, alterations and of the trades, new home construction was at its lowest level in at least three years in a community where residential properties already make up more than three-quarters of the tax base.

Last year, 63 new homes were constructed versus the 80 and 140 in 2022 and 2021, respectively, the city states. Things may be looking up though.

“Everything is looking up for 2024. It may be a little slow to start out with, but it’s going to be a good time to build because of material costs, interest rates and new buildable residential lots coming board,” said Bob Manning, executive officer of the Cedar Valley Home Builders Association.

More houses were sold in 2022 — 566, or 90.13% of listings —- at an average sale price of $282,077, versus in 2023 — 494, or 81.79% of listings — at an average sale price of $303,195, according to Iowa Regional Board of Realtors data.

In 2021, 683 houses were sold, or 94.86% of listings, at an average sale price of $265,408.

“If interest rates are going to continue to track down, I think it’s quite likely we could see a repeat of the craziness that happened a year-and-a-half to two years ago where everything was getting competing offers and going for way over list,” said Kyle Larson, owner of Cedar Falls-based LGC Design and a landlord.

“The only reason you get into conditions like that is undersupply, and those conditions have been present, but the demand has somewhat softened over the last year to where there is not as big a bottleneck. But if interest rates continue to track down, you’re going to have a bottleneck again.”

The Cedar Falls housing needs assessment, adopted by the City Council in 2023, sought ways to respond to slower housing construction and a dearth of buildable lots for sale.

When talking about residential units in general, it was the opinion of the report that the city must expand its housing supply by taking advantage of “greenfield” (undeveloped) land, infill tracts, and vacant upper stories of commercial buildings.

From 2016 through 2021, an estimated 997 residential unit projects were given work permits in Cedar Falls. Of these, 564 units (57%) were single-family homes; 221 (22%) were two-family structures, townhomes, or condominiums, and 212 (21%) were multifamily units.

The city’s residential permit volume has generally declined in recent years, from a high of 251 units in 2016 to an estimated low of 89 units in 2022. However, if multifamily unit permits are disregarded, the decline is less pronounced, with a high of only 149 units in 2016.